Monday 30 August 2010

Back on the Road

Although technically I'm supposed to be in Wales, I've been on a brief detour to Orkney, followed by ten days on the North coast of the Scottish mainland, picking up a few waves I missed first time round.

Orkney is great - beautiful beaches, impressive cliffs, neolithic ruins and viking villages. Plus delicious seafood if you can catch a fisherman as he unloads his boat. Conditions for surfing were summer-small, but I managed a couple of sessions at the legendary, seal-infested point break at Scara Brae, and another on the island of Sanday.

Although it was only chest high, the first day at Scara Brae was fairly good. Conditions dropped off overnight, and I didn't have quite as much success on the second day,
possibly because I was trying to surf the wrong type of board.
This is Orkney's star attraction.
She's standing in front of Orkney's second star attraction. And a load of old stones.

Here she is again with the Old Man of Hoy.
And even more stones.

No stones here. It's Sanday.
On Hoy we managed to catch local fishermen Kenny and Gary as they landed a crate of crabs.
A few hours later, voilĂ !
Apparently it's very important to dress appropriately for visiting neolithic stone circles and viking villages.
The locals even have a name for people like us: